Labels being brought back from the dead is something of a popular bandwagon that sparks major news flashes on all of the WWD/Vogue/FWD etc saying ‘XXX is back!’ with us bloggers following up with a SHOCK SHOCK HORROR HORROR post at the news. I’ll summarise with a Newsround-like factsheet….
Biba - Michael Pearce bought the global license for Biba and launched shoes and handbag for AW07-8. Then the clothes were revived for SS07 by Bella Freud who followed up with another collection of disappointing stuff before handing over the reins to a creative team of five headed up by Hector Castro and includes Fashion East designer Louise Goldin for the SS08 collection. No rave reviews as yet… and sales are still quite shaky…
Vionnet - Bought by Arnaud de Lummen back in 1988, Sophia Kokosalaki took on the task of reviving this 20’s Parisian house for SS07 but after the next season bid farewell despite getting praise from the press for her collections. Marc Audibet is now the artistic advisor for Vionnet and presented a small collection for SS08 in Paris. Supremely select stockists (just Barney’s and its own store in Paris)
Celia Birtwell - Commercial success in reviving a designer came by way of former print designer for Ossie Clark, Celia Birtwell who has been in collaboration with Topshop for three collections now and looks to continue doing so. Major crowd pleaser…
Halston - Millionnaire Harvey Weinstein bought Halston in 2006 and is preparing the resurrection of this legendary name having appointed Marco Zanini (was head designer of womenswear at Versace) to be the creative director. Rachel Zoe is also on the creative team. The collection will be presented at New York Fashion Week in Feb 2008.
Schiaparelli - The rights for the label was bought by Diego Della Valle earlier this year but it is unknown as to when it will launch and who the creative director will be. Talks with Roland Mouret fell through and now it is rumoured that Giles Deacon may be taking this on…
Ossie Clarke - The latest in the label revival game has been instigated by WGSN founder Marc Worth who will be relaunching Ossie Clarke at London Fashion Week in Feb 2008. The creative team includes Avsh Alom Gur who has previously worked at Chloe and Roberto Cavalli and has his own label as well.
Facts over but surely the doubts must creep in. There’s a few issues attached to revivals of labels that I have to ponder…
Can they surpass the original? If they do surpass the original (which hasn’t happened yet…), is that a disrespect to the original designer?
If the aim is to re-interpret the original for the 21st century, then how much of an homage do you pay to the original? Or do you go for a completely different direction instead to avoid people accusing you of watering down the original? Biba seems to have gone for the watered down version with sky-high prices.
With houses and labels having a very rich history how much should the creative teams of today use the archives as points of reference? When Kokosalaki came onboard for Vionnet, I was punching the air with my fists but was then sorely disappointed because I thought it was a wasted opportunity with an archive like Vionnet’s.
Then other questions arise… who exactly are these revivals aimed at? The people who originally bought the labels back in their heyday? To introduce these labels to a whole new generation? In the case of Vionnet and Schiaparelli, there is definite room for redefinition and revamp as the labels are that much older. However, with the 60’s-70’s labels, will everyone fall into the trap of making comparisons with the original?
These thoughts all spring to mind when I hear of labels being revived yet at the same time, I get all excited about the prospect of seeing a Schiaparelli 2008 collection or I was dying to see Vionnet’s collection in person (alas…. no UK stockists…). Perhaps they need to be looking at the turnaround fortunes of the likes of Balenciaga, Balmain or Lanvin as they have set that ‘revival’ precedent…
In any case, I’ll be monitoring all this revival bandwagon activity with not too high an expectation as I’d much prefer to be pleasantly surprised.
Source: Revive to Survive
